Mechanic Recommendations in Southeast Michigan?

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blacknchrome

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Just as the title suggests, anyone know of a good reliable mechanic that is familiar with the LS in the metro Detroit area?
I have an 03 V8 and have been dealing with this overheating nightmare.
I purchased all of the suggested parts from the gen II overhaul thread and the guy I've used in the past took all weekend trying to diagnose the problem, and then only installed the thermostat and a water pump ?which he probably found at a junk yard). It ran decent for 1 day in 35 degree temps, but just started overheating again.
I tried the draining, filling and bleeding procedure when it started acting up again but no such luck. When I showed and told him about the heater air bleed, he said to "never touch that". It's clear he's not familiar with this vehicle and I no longer have confidence in him working on my car.
Any suggestions of a trustworthy knowledgable shop would be greatly appreciated.



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If you can read and turn a wrench, "you" will be the trustworthy knowledgable shop. Never trust anyone to do the work for you. If you're physically able I suggest you do the job yourself. You have plenty of help here. That way, if something were to go wrong or you had other issues arise, you know what's been done and what to rule out etc.

Personally, if I can't do the job one of my vehicle requires, I'll find another vehicle. Which is one of the main reasons I'll never purchase a newer vehicle. But this isn't about me.

Do the job yourself. We're here for you (;
 
i am in lincoln park mi im very familiar with the LS as ive had 2 myself give me a call Josh @ 313 957 9067
 
Jayare said:
i am in lincoln park mi im very familiar with the LS as ive had 2 myself give me a call Josh @ xxx xxx xxxx
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You probably should PM him your number and remove it from the public forum post...
 
The longer you wait to remove your number, the more likely it is the Chinese will get a known good number to spam.
 
i dont care about my number being on here whatsoever. i have an app that automatically blocks spam calls anyway. works 95% of the time.
 
keep putting your number on blast like that and that other 5% is going to become quite overwhelming...
 
So I decided to go with soulsoak's encouraging advice and just do it myself. I'm balls deep into this thing right now trying to get to that bastard 9N499 elbow, so there's no turning back at this point lol. Thank god for the deneau site or else I would have traded it into the dealer for only $1,000 and drove off in a focus with 130k miles the other day.


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You have a new thermostat right? I wouldn't do all that to a cooling system without a new Ford thermostat. Also check the water pump carefully for play and your tensioner pulley and idler pulley. don-ohio
 
don-ohio said:
You have a new thermostat right? I wouldn't do all that to a cooling system without a new Ford thermostat. Also check the water pump carefully for play and your tensioner pulley and idler pulley. don-ohio
Click to expand...

Yes, the thermostat (purchased from tasca) was replaced just last week along with the water pump. There didn't appear to be any play in the pump itself or pullys.
After all the wrenching this weekend, the car is still overheating [emoji17].

Basically what's happening is when the engine gets warm the fan will kick on high blast and coolant from the degas bottle begins rising, to the point where it gets so high it will start seeping out through the top of the bottle by the cap. So #9 of the bleeding procedure doesn't apply to me in this case because while the engine is idling, coolant keeps getting higher in the bottle rather than going down where I would need to add more to maintain the max fill mark.
It would appear that something is either blocking the flow or causing it not to circulate throughout the system properly.
Could it be the aux coolant pump causing this?


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The water pump rarely needs to be replaced.
Did you use all Motorcraft parts? (or was some of it Dorman?)
It's not related to the aux pump, unless the aux pump is leaking.
You did follow this to the letter? http://deneau.info/ls/s6x~us~en~file=s6x33004.htm~gen~ref.htm#extract_142

Exactly which parts (by part number if possible) did you replace? You may have missed one and that one may be the problem. Air is what is blocking the flow.
 
Yes, I have followed the bleeding procedure to the letter each and every time.

One thing that I noticed was during #8 of the bleeding procedure, coolant would come out of the heater air bleed in spurts, not a very consistent flow per se where it is pissing out of there, unless I brought the rpms up to 2k or so, then the flow would taper off and slowly leak out on and off. I've waited up to 10-15 mins at times waiting for the consistent flow to happen, and have even waited to the point where the engine has warmed up and the fan would kick on then engine would begin to overheat right in the middle of the procedure. Here is a list of parts that have been replaced over the past 1.5 years or so.

August 2014:
5W4Z-8A080-AA (Motorcraft Degas bottle)

September 2015:
Radiator (looks like an aftermarket part local indy shop had installed for me)

November 2015:
3W4Z-8286-CB (LOWER HOSE)
3W4Z-9F814-AA (HOSE ASY)
3W4Z-8260-BC (HOSE ASY)

March 2016:
Degas bottle cap

April 2016:
3W4Z-8548-AD (THERMOSTAT HOUSING)
2W9Z-9N499-AC (THERMOSTAT HSNG CONNECTOR)
3W4Z-8592-AA (THERMOSTAT COVER)
2W9Z-8575-AB (THERMOSTAT)
*Also purchased all new gaskets/o-rings associated with these parts
Water pump (local indy shop had installed)

One other thing I have noticed was the engine fill cap hasn't ever been replaced. It looks a bit discolored (very brownish) inside of it. It takes approx 3-4 revolutions for it to tighten all the way. Is that normal?
I am using prestone 50/50 antifreeze. I have read this is acceptable to use for this car?
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/AFZ2/AF2100.oap?pt=N0496
 
That anti-freeze is fine. The aftermarket radiator should be okay too.
Is there any coolant leaking at the fill cap (or anywhere else)? Yes, it should be replaced. (Get ready, it is overpriced and may be hard to find.)

Certainly the heater bleed stream should be fairly steady by the time the engine is warmed up. Sounds like it's not pressurizing (leak somewhere).
 
blacknchrome said:
Yes, I have followed the bleeding procedure to the letter each and every time.

... coolant would come out of the heater air bleed in spurts, not a very consistent flow per se where it is pissing out of there, unless I brought the rpms up to 2k or so ...
Click to expand...



Without being ignorant, you have air in the system!

not going to get into it BUT you should have 'burped' the system as you were filling it to ensure as little possible of air pockets on completion.


Ensure no further leaks in the plastics. Ensure the Thermostat is good. (rad needs antifreeze also!)

Have another person, start the LS and hold RPM right just under the 3K rev limiter. DATC functions OFF.

As it gets sucked down at the fill neck, add more! Keep 3K RPM. Put the cap on tight when it levels out.

Run it long enough to get the thermostat to open ... keep filling at the Degas bottle, do not allow it to suck air.

You get to close the bleed valve ONLY when it stops spitting air.

Goes without saying the degas bottle cap needs to be in functional order.

The Dorman bottles had a problem with the thread design which did not allow the cap to generate it's proper valve seal. Often reported as still over heating or not able to bleed.
 
You'll not get the air out of the heater loops with the DATC off.
 
Starts out like that as it gets up to temp the heating controls get operated.

Chances are the lines from the DCCV weren't drained anyhow.
 
I'm not seeing any leaks from the engine fill cap itself.
Sometimes when topping off the engine fill, coolant will spill out from the bleeder hole on the housing just underneath the cap, if too much has been added.
Haven't seen any leaks anywhere else except when the coolant rises so high it ultimately overflows.
 
BigRigLS said:
Starts out like that as it gets up to temp the heating controls get operated.

Chances are the lines from the DCCV weren't drained anyhow.
Click to expand...

That's certainly not correctly following the procedure.

blacknchrome said:
...One thing that I noticed was during #8 of the bleeding procedure, coolant would come out of the heater air bleed in spurts, not a very consistent flow ...
Click to expand...

His lines did drain, because this clearly indicates air in the heater circuits.

Doing this right is more likely to work than doing it wrong. What is your reason for wanting the DATC off (and the DCCV closed)?
 
blacknchrome said:
I'm not seeing any leaks from the engine fill cap itself.
Sometimes when topping off the engine fill, coolant will spill out from the bleeder hole on the housing just underneath the cap, if too much has been added.
Haven't seen any leaks anywhere else except when the coolant rises so high it ultimately overflows.
Click to expand...

If you close the heater bleed and tighten both caps, run the engine till the gauge reaches half way, turn the engine off, wait five minutes, and then try to squeeze the upper radiator hose, is it really firm and very hard to squeeze?
 
joegr said:
If you close the heater bleed and tighten both caps, run the engine till the gauge reaches half way, turn the engine off, wait five minutes, and then try to squeeze the upper radiator hose, is it really firm and very hard to squeeze?
Click to expand...
I'll have to take a look once I get home from work in about an hour.
Should I try doing this in its current state or start the bleeding procedure over?
 
Probably as these guys say, the AIR in the system is messing up the temp. signal because it's not reading coolant while the engine is getting hotter and hotter.

This is why I usually replace a water pump,cause if they are weak,the bleeding procedure won't work as well. If the water pump has over 60K on it,I'd toss it. That's just me.

I don't like the aftermarket part about the radiator(hoping it's the right one.).....To make sure the radiator has no air,you can drain ot some coolant to save it if desired, remove the top radiator hose from the radiator on the passenger side, remove the top END of the bottom radiator hose from the thermostat housing. Now keep pouring antifreeze into the radiator hose you just removed from the thermostat housing UNTIL it runs out the upper hose bib on the radiator. When you have done this,you have made sure that the radiator is bled of most air.
THEN reconnect and follow the bleed procedure to the letter. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
Probably as these guys say, the AIR in the system is messing up the temp. signal because it's not reading coolant while the engine is getting hotter and hotter.

This is why I usually replace a water pump,cause if they are weak,the bleeding procedure won't work as well. If the water pump has over 60K on it,I'd toss it. That's just me.

I don't like the aftermarket part about the radiator(hoping it's the right one.).....To make sure the radiator has no air,you can drain ot some coolant to save it if desired, remove the top radiator hose from the radiator on the passenger side, remove the top END of the bottom radiator hose from the thermostat housing. Now keep pouring antifreeze into the radiator hose you just removed from the thermostat housing UNTIL it runs out the upper hose bib on the radiator. When you have done this,you have made sure that the radiator is bled of most air.
THEN reconnect and follow the bleed procedure to the letter. don-ohio :)^)
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll give that a shot.


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blacknchrome said:
I'll have to take a look once I get home from work in about an hour.
Should I try doing this in its current state or start the bleeding procedure over?
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter. It is a test to see if the system can hold pressure. If it can't, bleeding is unlikely to ever work.
 
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